


Teddy Gus

by Nicolle_Midnight



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-06
Updated: 2013-07-06
Packaged: 2017-12-17 20:10:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/871492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicolle_Midnight/pseuds/Nicolle_Midnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Brian and Justin had met before Episode 101?</p><p>This fic is an assumption that Brian and Justin's relationship began well before that first episode of the series.    </p><p>Thanks to Predec2  for the translation work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teddy Gus

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is an assumption that Brian and Justin's relationship began well before that first episode of the series.

Pittsburgh - September 1987 

 

Brian jerked when he felt something soft unexpectedly fall on top of his head. Looking down at the ground where it had landed, he realized it was a somewhat worn-looking teddy bear with shoe-button eyes and brown fur. As he picked it up, he heard a voice speaking to him nearby. 

 

"Hey, can you give me Gus?" 

 

He looked up at a little boy sitting at the top of the slide; he was blond with striking blue eyes, and appeared to be no more than four years old. As he stared at the boy, he couldn't help thinking how beautiful he was, like one of the angels that adorned the church that his mother forced him to attend every Sunday. 

 

He furrowed his brow. "Gus?" 

 

"My teddy bear!" The boy explained, the blue eyes flashing with a combination of defiance but also apprehension as Brian clutched the stuffed animal in his hands and effectively held his most treasured friend captive.

 

"Go on, Brian! Return the idiotic bear to the little brat so we can go home," Michael urged him as Brian recalled what he was doing at the park: he was there to try and console his best friend over being passed over for the school's football team, and Michael was presently so high on booze and weed that he was ready to pass out any second. 

 

"My bear is NOT an idiot!" the little boy retorted. "At least HE'S not smoking cigarettes like you are!" He eyed the older boy curiously. "Do you know that those can cause cancer?" 

 

Brian snickered. "What ARE you, a public service announcement?" Brian normally stayed away from petulant little kids, but this one intrigued him for some reason. He decided a little conversation with this angelic-looking,blond-haired child might be fun. 

 

"So, Mr. PSA...What's your name? How old are you? And where's your mother?"

 

"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers!" 

 

"Then why are you talking to me?" Brian pointed out.

 

"Because you have my teddy bear and I want it back," he responded in a sort of 'duh' tone of voice. 

 

Brian couldn't help grinning. He was impressed; this kid was more logical than Mikey, with or without weed. He was about to say something else when Michael interrupted him again. 

 

"Look, kid. We know that you must be lost. My name is Michael Novotny, and this is my friend, Brian Kinney. We'll help you find your mother." Under his breath, Brian heard him mutter, "And then you'll leave us alone." He spoke up again. "Now can you tell us your name and your mother's name?"

 

Justin crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not lost! I know where my mom is! And you should be in school and not smoking those weird cigarettes and drinking beer in a park full of kids and moms."

 

Brian had to laugh as Michael told him, "Return the bear to him now, Brian. This kid's working for the CIA, or he's a mutant with superpowers that will melt our brains." 

 

"I'm not with the CIA, I'm not a, a...mutant - whatever that is - and I can't melt brains," the boy told him. "You don't have to worry anyway, because I don't think you have a brain." 

 

Michael huffed in insult as Brian chuckled. This small boy may be cute and look like an angel, but he had a sharp wit and he was very smart. Something about this kid fascinated him; something that he couldn't quite explain. A strange feeling compelled him to remain there longer than he normally would have. He wanted to know more about this kid for some reason. Why, he didn't know. Why did he not just leave? He had nothing whatsoever in common with this child. 

 

"Come on, Brian!" Michael repeated when he realized Brian hadn't budged. "Give the kid the bear and let's go." He was tired of trying to figure this kid out. Since he said his mother was there, he wasn't going to worry about him any longer. 

 

But Brian remained where he was and decided to try a different tactic. He held the teddy bear up in front of his face as he spoke to it. "Well, Teddy Gus, I will agree to give you back to your owner if you promise to take him back to his mother for me." 

 

The little boy snorted. "You're kind of crazy, talking to my teddy bear. Do you really think he'll talk back to you?" 

 

Brian shrugged. "Well, since you didn't answer, I thought I'd decide to try getting the bear to talk." 

 

"All right, I'll answer! But I think your friend just passed out over there! Or maybe he's dead?" The little boy seemed strangely hopeful over that idea. 

 

Brian glanced over at his friend now lying on the ground. "Damn," he muttered in disgust. "Thanks a lot, Mikey! Now you've scared the boy." Louder he told the kid, "Don't worry, he's just asleep. He'll be fine," he assured him. "Now would you just answer my questions, please?" 

 

"All right! But you promise to return Gus to me?"

 

Brian nodded with a slight smile as he rolled his tongue into his cheek in anticipation of what the boy would say.

 

The blond-haired kid took a deep breath as he recited, "I'm not with the CIA, and I don't have mutant superpowers. At my school, they told my parents that I have above-average intelligence, but that's no big deal," he told Brian matter-of-factly. "It just helps me to learn more easily than others. My name is Justin Taylor, I'm four-and-a-half years old, my mom's name is Jennifer and my dad's name is Craig." He turned to point at a bench approximately 25 feet away as he informed Brian," And my mother's been sitting over there on that bench the whole time, staring at us." 

 

Brian glanced over where the boy was pointing and noticed a slim, rather elegant-looking woman watching them curiously. Feeling a little awkward, Brian nodded at the woman before he walked over and held the bear up to the little boy's scrutiny, finding himself perplexed by him. Something about this kid charmed him like no one ever had before. 

 

Justin sat at the top of the metal slide for a few seconds before he pushed himself off and slid down the chute until he got to the bottom and snatched the bear away from Brian, promptly standing up and running over toward his mother. Just before he reached her, he turned around and flashed a blinding smile at him; one that seemed to light up the world as he waved goodbye to him. Brian watched as the woman gave the little boy a hug before, taking his hand, she turned to lead the two of them toward the parking lot. 

 

Sighing as he looked down at his disheveled best friend, Brian turned his attention back to Michael as he tried to figure out how to sober him up. 

 

 

Pittsburgh - November, 2007

 

 

Justin groaned in embarrassment as he walked into his mother's living room from the dining room, noticing that his mother had his baby books out and was showing them to Brian as they sat side by side on the couch. "Mom..." he whined, but Brian grinned evilly back at him and held his hand up. 

 

"Now, Sunshine," he replied as Justin walked closer and he gave him a brief kiss on the lips. "It's not like I haven't seen you in your birthday suit before." 

 

Justin covered his face with his hands in embarrassment as he sat down next to his partner. Secretly, though, he didn't mind. He was just happy that after two years, he was established enough in New York that he could return to Pittsburgh to live with the man he loved and commute back and forth for his work. Tonight, he and Brian were celebrating his return with his mother. It had been a whirlwind week of reunions with his friends and family, including Debbie, Michael, Ben, and Emmett. Of course, the best reunion of all had been with Brian. He planned on privately 'celebrating' with him some more later tonight, in fact.

 

"I don't believe it," Brian murmured all of a sudden as he gazed down at a photo of a beautiful, blond, little boy with bright blue eyes hugging his favorite stuffed animal. 

 

Jennifer smiled in reminiscence. "That was Justin when he was four years old," she told him. "He wouldn't let that bear out of his sight until he went to kindergarten." 

 

Brian shook his head in amazement as he instantly recognized the same boy he had met twenty years ago in the park. It was then that he realized: when it came to Justin Taylor, he had never had a chance to resist.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments would be appreciated. English is not my first language, so please excuse any mistakes.


End file.
